Hastings ready for state board

By Sam Harvey
Staff Reporter

Hastings’ resignation took affect just hours after the Dec. 13 board meeting, and he was slated to attend his first state Board of Ed meeting on Dec. 15.

He said he’d received the call from Gov. Ruth Ann Minner’s office back in August, and after giving the matter some thought and talking it over with his family, he’d decided to accept the appointment.

“I’m flattered that I was considered,” he said. Hastings went through confirmation hearings before state senators last month (a tough, but exciting, half-hour or so, he said) and was confirmed later that night.

He will join board President Jean Allen as the second Sussex Countian on the state board (alongside two from Kent County, three from New Castle County).

Allen’s from the Seaford area, but it’s been 30 years since the state appointed someone from the eastern part of the county, Hastings pointed out. He will be the first since Millsboro’s Dr. Hiram Lasher, who served from 1965 to 1970.

The state consolidated Georgetown and Millsboro schools with schools in the southeast in the late 1960s, and many consider Lasher the “architect of the IRSD,” for organizing the new district. (Lasher is also known for his work in the poultry industry.)

For his part, Lasher commended Hastings for his role in convincing district residents to support the construction of not one, but two new high schools.

“He knows the district from the ground up, and he’s done a tremendous job for the IRSD,” Lasher said. “This is going to be a very good appointment.”

State Board of Ed members had acquired responsibilities since he’d served, Lasher said, and their decisions were now more likely to affect the school districts. He expected Hastings’ long involvement at the IRSD would help him provide some local perspective in Dover.

Hastings grew up just over the Delaware-Maryland line, and attended high school in Pittsville, Md. He’s spent his entire career in construction design, and continues to do so, from the G.A. Hastings Associates office in Ocean View.

Hastings moved to Delaware with his wife, Charlotte, in 1975. They have two sons, Jason and Jonathan, both IRSD graduates (from Sussex Central High School).

He said he’d first run for a seat on the school board in 1993. With one of his sons preparing to enter high school, Hastings said he’d started hearing about problems with discipline at the school — unruliness, people skipping class — and declining grades.

“I was concerned, as any parent would have been,” he pointed out. And just as he focused on these issues, a couple of people approached him about running for the school board.

He served five years, then re-upped in 1998 and 2001 (when terms were reduced to three years) and most recently won reelection in 2004.

Hastings admitted he’d miss working for the local board, seconding a colleague’s sentiment that “it gets into your blood, after a while.” And he said he considered the board members’ willingness to serve year after year as an asset, and a major contributor in helping the district accomplish its recent capital projects.

He offered some advice for whoever steps in to replace him. “Learn as much about our local (educational) system, and the state’s system, as fast as you possibly can,” he said. “The shorter you can keep that learning curve, the more effective you’ll be.

“And after that learning curve, always try to see and understand the bigger picture,” Hastings continued. “Always keep the best interest of the kids first.”